Im a London chimney sweep heres everything Ive found: from a WW2 revolver to lost love letters

A London chimney sweep has revealed some of the strangest things he has found in people’s homes – from a World War Two revolver and a teenage girl’s diary to dead pigeons and porn magazines.Josh Firkins, 37, from Enfield, has been sweeping chimneys across the capital for the last 20 years.He works for his family business, H Firkins and Sons, which was founded by his great, great, great grandfather in 1860 – and has been passed down through the generations ever since.The dad-of-three says no day is ever the same at his job, mainly because he spends a lot of his time finding surprises up people’s chimneys.Some items are from decades ago, such as a collection of lost love letters, but some have been found right at the right moment – such as a badly-placed gas pipe which could have caused an explosion.Mr Firkins said: “We find a lot of things up people’s chimneys.“We get called out all the time because there’s a bird – usually a pigeon – that’s gotten stuck.So we rescue them and help set them free.“Sadly, we often find dead birds in chimneys too, so not such a happy ending there.“Another regular is children’s letters to Father Christmas, which is sweet.“I always pass them onto the parents just in case they haven’t seen.

But recently, I gave one to a mother – and it was from her child who had just passed away.“So that was pretty emotional.“As for more unusual cases, my dad once found a World War Two revolver wrapped up in a letter with German writing.“The letter fell apart instantly, as you’d expect from paper from decades ago, so we don’t know what it said.“I also once found a diary of a teenage girl, written in the early 90s.It was very insightful, actually.“I wish I had read it when I was a teenage boy as it would have been quite useful.“Other finds include an engagement ring, a gold Rolex, and stashes of old money.“One I remember well is finding old love letters written by a doctor.“He had to hide them as he...